This invention claims the benefit of Provisional case No. 60/430,295, filed Dec. 2, 2002 and Non-Provisional case No. 10/648,575 filed Aug. 26, 2003.
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to vacuum cleaners installed in a vehicle. More particularly, the invention relates to an arrangement where a vacuum cleaner in a vehicle is accessible by the driver and under the control of the driver.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventional techniques to vacuum the interior of vehicles require the use of exterior household vacuum cleaners and related attachments or, alternatively, the use of fixed vacuum systems typically installed outside of commercial car washes and typically requiring the repeated feeding of coins. The household vacuum cleaners require the cleaning operation to occur in garages, or close to the house where there is a convenient source of electrical power. Vacuuming motor vehicles at commercial carwashes typically utilize exterior stanchions, where a retractable hose is connected to a fixed vacuum unit.
The advent of handheld cordless vacuum cleaners enabled users to carry such portable vacuum cleaner units in a vehicle, untethered to electrical cords. It is known to use portable vacuum cleaners specifically adapted to connect to the vehicle power source, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,189,753 to Sousa et al. It is also known to use built-in central vacuum cleaning systems in a vehicle as in U.S. Pat. No. 3,449,787 to Rothstein et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,829,091 to Ingram et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 6,128,804 to Lee et al. Further, U.S. Pat. No. 6,148,472 to Arena suggests the use of a wet/dry vacuum system in a vehicle. Each of these references are hereby fully incorporated by reference into the present application for their teaching of the construction and operation of a vacuum system.
However, such units typically do not have the power and suction of a conventional vacuum cleaner. Furthermore, if rechargeable, they typically have short cycle times such that when power runs low, they must be recharged before vacuuming can continue. Moreover, there is no convenient storage for such devices; they often rattle around the vehicle and end up in the trunk or elsewhere outside the ready grasp of the driver. Thus they are rarely available for use at the time that a spill occurs.
The one exception to the above described ritual and habit is that there are limited times when the position of authority shifts or there is a sharing of authority between the driver and the front seat passenger. This can, for example, be delegated authority, as in the case where a parent driver expects the other parent non-driver to handle certain matters of control and authority, or inherent authority, as when a vehicle owner or a dominant partner in a relationship asks the other person to drive. For such times, conveniences are advantageously located so as to be within the reach of both the driver and the front seat passenger. Again, this has been recognized in the placement of some vehicle systems but has gone unrecognized in the case of vacuuming systems.
It is therefore believed that ready acceptance of a vehicle vacuum system by consumers will require convenient and reliable access by the seated driver to the system without exiting the vehicle and more particularly without having to move from the comfort of the driver seat to access or assemble components.
Through in-vehicle observation of consumers (called ethnography) the inventor has learned that there are specific habits and rituals that consumers observe in their vehicles, and these habits and rituals are rarely violated. Thus, devices and vehicle features introduced into the vehicle environment need to meet actual needs, as well as do so in an acceptable manner. If they do not meet these previously unrecognized needs, they will have limited commercial success.
For vacuums, this means that they need to be easily reachable by everyone, especially the driver and preferably by the front seat passenger as well. By attaching the vacuum to a location within arm's reach of the driver, the consumer is not required to leave their seat to locate the vacuum and initiate the cleaning process. Requiring one to leave their seat is outside of current consumer habits and rituals, and would be a critical impediment for vacuum adoption. There are many specific locations that qualify for being considered within arm's reach of the driver. Some of these are: overhead in the sound deadening head liner; in the sides or back of either of the two front bucket seats; under or part of the rear seats; in the console or dashboard; under the front seats; in the “A” or “B” pillars; and adjacent or recessed in the floor or doors.
In the present situation, the vacuum process for vehicles which is assumed by currently available vacuum systems as well as dictated by such currently available vacuum products is that the vehicle occupant or operator identifies a need to vacuum and either                (a) the vehicle is taken to a location where a vacuum capable of cleaning vehicle interiors exists where the vehicle operator or occupant gets out of the vehicle to locate the vacuum hose, feeds coins into the machine if necessary, and then clean the vehicle or        (b) the vehicle is parked and the driver gets out of the vehicle to locate and operate a portable vacuum.        
Both of these state of the art vacuuming processes are inconvenient and therefore the vacuuming is often postponed, potentially resulting in the spill being ground in to the carpet or seat.
Another observation of consumer rituals and behaviors relates to their desire to eat in their vehicles. While many people want to eat or to feed their children in the vehicles, they are often hesitant to do so, or they restrict the type of food permitted in the vehicle because of the likely mess and the inconvenience of prior art vacuum systems.
Given that there is a latent need for cleaning facilitation in the vehicle, and that, to be widely accepted, this need must be satisfied in a manner which honors the rituals and habits of consumers, certain essential processes emerge for a car vacuum product. What is needed, is effective and convenient vacuum cleaner accessibility within a vehicle.